SMS Marketing Blog

3 Ways Travel Agencies Can Take Full Advantage of SMS Messaging

The recent weather likely has many people thinking about their summer holiday. It’s great news for travel agents looking to book ahead for the coming months. If you’re a travel agent, SMS messaging is fast becoming a primary way to communicate with your clients. This is true even for the non-tech savvy over 50 demographic. According to an article on ttgdigital.com, the over 50 crowd is more mobile and Internet aware than most people assume.

More than 93% of Brits own a mobile phone according to Ofcom. SMS messaging lets you interact with them almost instantly, with very high (98% or more) open rates within just a few minutes. But what sorts of messages would you send? Here’s a list of three types that could help streamline your travel business:

Support the sales process – Text messages are perfect for sending details regarding purchases, quotes, or accounts. For example you can send payment reminders before the due date and get more of your money on time. You could also send a reminder for late payments with a link to pay online so it’s very easy for the client to do. Lost passwords, account numbers, or quotes for an upcoming holiday are also great ways to use SMS messaging to improve your sales process.

Keep clients up to date – These days clients like to be informed. Help them out by sending any weather alerts or warnings regarding their travel or destination. If there’s a delay in travel or tour, send them another message letting them know. Before a trip, you could also send safety tips or advice specifically for their destination.

Send them confirmations – Once you have all or portions of the holiday confirmed, send the confirmation to the client via text message. Include confirmation numbers, or even links to a webpage with all the details. Your clients will appreciate knowing the details are confirmed and they’re all set to go.

You might already send these types of messages via email, and that’s great. Email is wonderful, but when you need to make sure a message arrives and that the client will see it, nothing beats SMS messaging.

For lots of ideas, tips and insights into how text messaging could help you download for free our Travel Agents Guide to SMS Messaging. It’s based on how our travel sector customers tell us the have benefited from fastsms in their businesses.

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